TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG

Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Lesson 3.1: Assessment in Art Education

Lesson Summary
The aim of the assessment is to determine the achievement of the goals of the Arts students;
however, the same information can also be used to determine the efficacy of the programs and
instructional strategies to allow all students to reach the best of their abilities. In order to obtain
relevant and accurate evidence on student performance of results, assessment should include a
variety of strategies that are commonly used throughout the teaching process.

Learning Objective
a. Identify the different assessment tools in assessing the learning arts in the elementary level.
b. Create an assessment tool of any topic in Arts.

Discussion
Good assessment in art requires many of the same things that assessment in any content
area requires. It needs time to be thoughtfully implemented, professional development for
teachers using and administering the assessments, and alignment with the district, state, or
national standards in the arts. And this supports and develops teacher instruction and student
learning.
.
Traditional assessment tools
The most widely used traditional assessment tools are multiple-choice tests, true/false
tests, short answers, and essays.
A. True/false tests
Truth/false items enable students to decide to figure out which of the two possible answers
is true. Since it's easy to score, it is easy to administer true/false assessments. But guessing could
increase the probability of success by 50 percent. Especially when the test item is incorrect, it is
hard to figure out if the student actually knows the right answer. One possible solution is to ask
the student to provide an explanation for the incorrect item or rewrite the statement correctly.
However, this affects the ease in scoring negatively (Simonson et al., 2000).
B. Multiple-choice tests
Multiple-choice tests are commonly utilized by teachers, schools, and assessment
organizations for the following reasons (Bailey, 1998, p. 130):
They are fast, easy, and economical to score. In fact, they are machine scorable.
 TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG
Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

1. They can be scored objectively and thus make the evaluation seem to be fairer and/or more
accurate than the subjective assessments.
2. They "look like" assessments and might thus appear to be appropriate to the convention.
3. They reduce the probability of learners guessing the correct items in relation to the truefalse
ones.
Simonson and others addressed the limitations of multiple-choice testing. They believed
that, depending on the level of cognitive effort, it would be more difficult and time consuming to
develop. In other words, multiple-choice items can be used successfully to assess items that
require a low level of cognitive effort, such as remembering previously memorized information,
whereas items that require students to use higher-level thought skills, such as analyzing and
synthesizing are more difficult to generate (2000).
Similarly, Hughes (in Bailey, 1998) criticizes multiple-choice tests for the following aspects:
1. The technique tests only on the recognition of skills,
2.guessing can have a considerable though unexplained impact on test scores, and
3. The methodology seriously limits what can be measured.
4. It is really hard to write successful items
5. Backwashing can be dangerous
6. Tricking should be made better

C. Essays
Essays are effective assessment tools since the questions are versatile to test higher level
cognitive abilities. However, they are not very practical due to the fact that it is very difficult and
time-consuming to score the essays. Moreover, subjectivity might be an issue in scoring. Creating
a rubric might be helpful to grade the essays (Simonson et al., 2000). A rubric can be defined as
“a criteria-rating scale, which gives the teachers a tool that allows them to track student
performance” (Abrenica, online document). Instructors have an option to create, adapt, or adopt
rubrics depending on their instructional needs. The templates provided on the web might be
helpful for them to adjust the generic rubrics into their own instruction (Simonson et al., 2000).
D. Short-answer tests
In short-answer tests “items are written either as a direct question requiring the learner fill
in a word or phrase or as statements in which a space has been left blank for a brief written
answer” (Simonson et al., 2000, p. 270). Furthermore, the questions need to be precise. In
addition, the items that are open to interpretations allow learners to fill in the blanks with any
possible information (Simonson et al., 2000).

Performance Based-Assessment
This measures students' ability to apply the skills and knowledge learned from a unit or
units of study. Typically, the task challenges students to use their higher-order thinking skills to
create a product or complete a process (Chun, 2010).
 TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG
Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

What are the essential components of a performance-based assessment?

Even when performance-based assessments vary, most of them share key
characteristics. First and foremost, the assessment specifically tests one or more specific
course standards. Additionally, it is:
1. Complex
2. Authentic
3. Process/product-oriented
4. Open-ended
5. Time-bound
Normally, students are presented with an open-ended question that may produce a variety
of possible correct answers (Chun, 2010; McTighe, 2015 In higherlevel tasks, there is a sense of
urgency for the product to be created or for the mechanism to be determined, as in most real-
world contexts.

How can teachers create performance-based assessments for their students?

1. Identify goals of the performance-based assessment

In this situation, the teacher decided to challenge her students to use critical thought and
problem-solving skills. She also required them to show less codependence and more individuality
when completing this assessment. The teacher did not want students to rely on her direction about
how to complete each phase of the assessment.

2. Select the appropriate course standards

Once the goals were identified, she selected the Common Core standards to be addressed
with this performance assessment. It was agreed that the assessment should test students'
comprehension of the conditional probability and the laws of probability.

3. Review assessments and identify learning gaps

This was a very important step. We looked at the current worksheets that students were
completing for the unit A substantial portion of the assignments were two-way frequency tables.
Next, we looked at what was lacking and found that there was so little real-world use. As a result,
we wanted to create a performance-based assessment that was also based on fact. Furthermore,
this task would require students to analyze two-way frequency tables along with other charts and
graphs.

4. Design the scenario

After brainstorming a few possible situations, we agreed on a case in which the students
would determine whether a prisoner should be given parole or stay in jail. Five primary elements
were used in this scenario:

• Setting
• Role
• Audience
• Time frame
• Product
 TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG
Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

5. Gather or create materials

On this particular assessment, we needed students to measure the likelihood of a prisoner
returning to jail. For their analysis, I produced seven separate papers, including pie charts, bar
graphs and two-way frequency tables. All the details were focused on statistics from government
departments, such as the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

6. Develop a learning plan

We decided to be careful not to "teach to the test" while training students for a performance-based
assessment. We wanted to strike a balance between teaching content (e.g., probability provided
two independent events) and preparing students for the challenge (e.g., interpreting the validity
of a media resource). We brainstormed six different formative assessments that would need to
be in place before students completed the performance task. However, we have agreed that this
part of our strategy will need to be regularly checked and updated, based on the student's learning
needs.

Scoring rubrics
In the Higher Education Report, S.M. Brookhart describes a scoring rubric as, “Descriptive
scoring schemes that are developed by teachers or other evaluators to guide the analysis of the
products or processes of students’ efforts.”
Types of scoring rubric
1. Analytic scoring rubric
Analytical rubrics are meant to break down the finished output or goal into observable
elements and components. In other words, the student has a project or task, and you use the
analytic score rubric to assess all aspects of the project. Analytic rubrics typically use numbers to
measure quality. Let’s take the example below.

Figure 1. Analytic Rubric

Source: https://theartofeducation.edu/2017/03/14/5-types-rubrics-use-art-classes/
 TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG
Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

The rubric might break down the evaluation process into three parts- foreground, middle,
background, atmospheric perspective, and overlapping and size variation. For each of these
components, numbers would be assigned. (1) Needs improvement, (2) Developing, (3) Proficient,
(4) Excellent. The rubric also explains what exactly each of those numbers means. So, a student
might have a score like this:
Student Output: Landscape painting
Foreground, middle, background (3) – The work shows proficient understanding of foreground,
middle ground, and background.

Atmospheric perspective (4) – There is exceptional use of atmospheric

Overlapping and size variation (2) – The work shows limited understanding of overlapping and
size variation.

With an analytic scoring rubric, the student and teacher can see more clearly what areas
need work and what areas are mastered.

2. Holistic scoring rubric

A holistic scoring rubric evaluates the work as a whole. In the above example, a holistic
rubric would look like this

Figure 1. Analytic Rubric

Source: https://theartofeducation.edu/2017/03/14/5-types-rubrics-use-art-classes/
 TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY-ALANGALANG
Binongtoan,Alangalang, Leyte, 6517, PHILIPPINES
Tel. Number : (053) 525-0140
Email: alangalang@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Student Output: Landscape painting

(1) Needs Improvement: The work does not show understanding of foreground, middle,
background, atmospheric perspective, and overlapping and size variation.
(2) Developing. The work shows a developing understanding of foreground, middle,
background, atmospheric perspective, and overlapping and size variation.
(3) Proficient. The work shows proficient understanding of foreground, middle, background,
atmospheric perspective, and overlapping and size variation.
(4) Excellent. The work shows exceptional understanding of foreground, middle, background,
atmospheric perspective, and overlapping and size variation.
With this rubric, the piece is evaluated as a whole.

Formative assessment
Formative assessment tools that identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps
along the way and assess how to close those gaps. It includes effective tools for helping to shape
learning, and can even bolster students’ abilities to take ownership of their learning when they
understand that the goal is to improve learning, not apply final marks (Trumbull and Lash, 2013).
It can include students assessing themselves, peers, or even the instructor, through writing,
quizzes, conversation, and more. In short, formative assessment occurs throughout a class or
course, and seeks to improve student achievement of learning objectives through approaches
that can support specific student needs (Theal and Franklin, 2010, p. 151).

Summative assessment
Summative assessment to evaluate students' understanding, awareness, skills or progress of an
educational period, such as a unit, course or program. Summative assessments are almost often
formally graded and are also highly weighted. Summative assessment can be used to a significant
degree in combination and accordance with the formative assessment, and teachers can explore
a number of ways to incorporate both approaches.